Temperature contrasts in our area can generally get very giant and this week we had some dramatic examples.
We’re speaking about as a lot as 50F in variation throughout the area in the course of the morning
Contemplate the minimal temperatures on Wednesday morning. A buoy off the coast measured 46F and the temperature dropped to 44 F within the Strait of Juan De Fuca. In distinction, over NE Washington the lows fell into the only digits and plummeted to -2F within the Methow Valley close to Twisp.
Here’s a close-up view of the temperatures across the Methow Valley Wednesday morning–very low temps close to the Methow Riber, however 10-20 F hotter on the ridges overhead.
On Thursday morning it was even colder within the Methow Valley, dropping to -5F, whereas temperatures have been about the identical alongside the WA coast.
How can we have now such loopy contrasts over the area?
The primary is the proximity to the comparatively heat Pacific Ocean. As proven under, temperatures proper off our coast are 12 C (54F) and hotter. Thus, if there are onshore-directed winds, the coastal zone stays comparatively heat. The Cascades restrict the eastward extent of the nice and cozy Pacific affect.
Then there’s snow. Final week snow fell over the northern components of japanese WA and snow protection continues to be in place (see the seen satellite tv for pc picture this morning, which clearly exhibits the snow.
Snow actually enhances chilly. It displays the warming rays of the solar and is a VERY good emitter of infrared radiation to house. The Methow Valley is now snow-covered.
Lastly, the chilly areas of the Methow Valley are, nicely, in a valley, as proven by the topographic map under. The coldest air is dense and heavy and tends to settle to the underside of the valley.
A Google Earth 3-D picture trying north from Twisp in direction of Winthrop exhibits the valley clearly.
The Methow Valley is the freezer of Washington state and the all-time chilly document for the state (-48F) was noticed in Winthrop.
And I nearly forgot: this valley enjoys chilly data for another reason: it’s excessive sufficient to be out of the low clouds that always fill the Columbia Basin. Clouds act as a blanket and stop the coldest temperatures.
